"I am the executive and, therefore, I use executive powers," Cuomo said in a radio interview last week. "The executive -- whether it's the president, the mayor or the governor -- you run the government and you have a whole host of powers that are apart and aside from the Legislature."

In the last six weeks, Cuomo used his power to appoint a special prosecutor in violent civilian-police clashes, begin moving 16- and 17-year-olds out of adult prisons and raise wages for fast-food workers.

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